SpacySmoke

A lot of people seem to want a R2 with a chrome head. While I understand why people would think that's cool, R2-D2 in the movies does not have a chrome dome; it's brushed metal. In my opinion, a chrome head would be too shiny and thus be as inaccurate as the grey plastic version. Hasbro used to chrome the heads on their R2 figures, but eventually realized that it was inaccurate and switched to metallic silver paint, which is much closer to the brushed metal look in the movies. The Episode I R2-D2 figure is probably one of the best examples; the dome is shiny, but not too shiny and paint they used on this figure is very smooth (other paints they've used have larger metallic "flakes"). If TLG could do something like that, I'd be pleased. Back on topic, great review; I think I'll pick this one up eventually!

Wow! Cool! This is my first contest win! Thank you to everyone that voted for my entry! Congrats Ninja Nin! Your creation really deserved top spot! That hermit crab is brilliant as is the rest of your entry. It was awesome to see all the entries; lots of really cool ideas and it was interesting to see what sets people would choose! And big thanks to Peppermint_M and Eurobricks for this contest! It was a blast!

This is a discussion thread for my entry. Big thanks to Eurobricks.com for this contest; it was very inspiring and a fun challenge. When the contest was first announced, the City Corner set kept popping up in my mind. I liked the idea of using it because it has both a vehicle and different types of buildings. Thankfully, I had also just bought some grab bags from my Lego Store that contained pieces of the London Tower set. You know what that means...lots of tan! That really helped me create the sand effects. I also ended up using all of my lime green 1x1 round plates that I got from the PaB wall a while ago...never thought I'd ever have a use for them. I started with the bus stop because it is the smallest section of the set and it was a good way to see if I could pull off my vision of an underwater look. Next, I tackled the bike/skate shop. Then it was time for the pizza parlor to get its makeover. Finally, the city bus got its turn. The idea is that it is sitting on one rock and the front of the bus is smashed into a second rock. Unfortunately, that all happened while the bus driver was still at the wheel. Poor guy. Overall, I'm pleased with the end result. It's the first time I've done something this organic so it's been a great experience no matter what happens with the contest.

Here's my entry: Sunken City Corner Based on set 7641. Since the icecaps melted, the once busy city corner is now just decayed ruins, discolored by water and overgrown with seaweed. But ho, what's this? The city corner is once again a lively place, thanks to the many fish and ocean life that now call it home! The city bus was pushed by the ocean currents into its final resting place between some rocks. The poor bus driver did not make it out. See more photos on Flickr.

If that were an official City set, I'd totally buy it! Great job!

Yeah, too bad I don't work closer to the beach; I'm pretty much on the most inland side of Huntington Beach! I might just try putting a palm tree in front just to see what it looks like! Thanks! I was getting worried that the kitchen was getting to cramped; I think it is almost at the breaking point of being too cramped and I had contemplated getting rid of the milkshake machine to add some room. I probably will make more modular buildings, but I don't have any plans yet. My wife sure is happy I'm done with this one though! Wow! Thanks for adding it to your blog! I'm a big fan of your work! Thanks! Glad you like it!

Thanks for compliments! Sorry, but I'm not sure what trick you're referring to though? Thanks! I actually think it's kinda bland too, but there are a couple of reasons why it's mostly white. The main reason is that the interior needs to be white to stay true to the In-N-Out style. I had wanted to make the bottom floor facade light tan, but I don't have that 8-wide arch in light tan. But yeah, most real life In-N-Outs are white; sometimes they are a different color (like tan) but I think those variations are mostly to conform to the style of the shopping center that they are a part of. Thanks! Most In-N-Outs have red neon lining the tops of the building so that's what those are supposed to be. Thanks guys! I'm quite proud of the menu myself! Nice! I actually work in Huntington Beach so I've eaten at that one as well. Haha, I just got the sleuth figure so I just stuck him in there, but that's a great explanation! As for the size, I didn't want to make it too big; I figured it's just a burger joint, they probably wouldn't have a 3-story building or anything grand. Thanks! I can't wait for the butcher CMF to come out. In-N-Out staff typically wear either a paper hat like the one the butcher CMF has, or a red and white baseball cap. They should really be wearing white pants with a red apron at their waist so I might try to replicate that in the future as well. Thanks! I think I spent a few nights just working on the arrow logo. I tried a lot of different techniques and I think this one looked the best. The tip of the arrow bugged me for long time until I got that Ninjago lightsaber piece that has a double-studded end.

When I was building it, I didn't have enough white 1x2 bricks with holes, so I just used those instead. I'll switch it out later.

After my last MOC, I had planned on making another vehicle. However, as I was breaking down some sets for the parts bins, I came across the 16x32 baseplate and figured, why not go for it and build a modular building? So here goes: this is my first modular building based on one of my favorite restaurants, In-N-Out Burger. In-N-Out is a family-owned hamburger chain found mostly in California, though there are restaurants in Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and some other states I think. They are typically free-standing, one-story buildings with a drive-thru. In other words, I don't think there is an In-N-Out built in a "modular building" style in the real world. I've based this design on the basic style of the real restaurants and adapted it to the modular building style as best I could. Basically, I imagined what it would look like if it were in New York City. There are two floors; the bottom is the ordering counter and kitchen, the second floor is the dining area. As is the custom for modular buildings, the roof and second floor can be removed. Front view. One of the hardest things was getting that arrow logo just right. An overview of the first floor. That black thing in the upper left corner is the soda dispenser. Under the stairs is a refrigerator and sink. A better shot of the menu. I made the graphic in Photoshop and recreated an actual menu. All items on the real-life menu are present here, though I'm missing the attachment for the value meals. A view of the kitchen and ordering counter. I tried to include something for everything on the menu. The grill for the burgers, deep fryer for the fries, french fry maker (In-N-Out fresh-cuts their fries from whole potatoes), a milkshake machine, and soda dispenser. I think the only thing I'm missing is a coffee maker. That red and white tiled section of wall is pretty much in every In-N-Out I've seen so I made sure to include it. It is also common for long planters to line the tops of wall sections. A close up of the kitchen area. There a grill for the burgers, a deep fryer, and a french fry maker (that contraption on the left). The second floor dining area. In-N-Outs typically have 3 types of seating: booths, counters with stools, and tables with chairs. All 3 styles are represented here. I'll try to add some detail shots later. The roof has an air conditioning unit and vent for the grill. My In-N-Out with my only other modular building, the Fire Brigade. That's it! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed building it! I've noticed that all three of my MOCs are white or white/red. I didn't plan that, but I am going to force myself to make something in another color next!

Nice bus! I'm also planning on making an 8-wide bus so it's nice to see one built already. Good job on the windshield; I was thinking of using those panels too. And good job with the steering! I won't be attempting that but it looks like fun!

No problem! Just a warning, the auto-generated instructions aren't very good and it skips pieces to the point where they are hidden when they eventually do get placed, so you may need to take the virtual model apart to see some of the inner structure.

Thanks, everyone for the compliments! It really means a lot to me! ACCURATEin, I'm already trying to work out an 8-wide bus design in my head, and I think the biggest roadblock so far is an 8-wide windshield. Not sure how I'm going to do it yet. I'm about 80% done with the LDD file. I would be done with it by now, but I actually did a slight redesign and moved the rear wheels one stud forward. This in turn moved a couple of other things forward so I had to make some adjustments. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it tonight. The reason for the change is because on the real-life ambulance, the rear wheels are nearly in the center of the box, so I think moving the wheels forward will make it more accurate. This was kind of bugging me ever since I posted the thread. If it looks weird though, I'll make an LDD file of the original design. UPDATE: LDD file finished! The altered version actually looks more accurate to me so I think I'll update the actual model eventually. The LDD file: SpacySmoke's American Ambulance (ver. B)

Amazing stuff and very inspiring! Lovin it!

Here's an overhead shot of the rear doors. Pretty much exactly like Ralph's setup in terms of function. And with the doors open. Here's a shot of interior not shown in the other photos. There's a bench for another passenger or EMT and the fire extinguisher. You can also see my use of the 1x1 corner panels that I mentioned which allow the doors to open a few millimeters wider. MikeyB, I'll try to make some instructions this weekend...which reminds me that I still need to finish the instructions for my food truck!

You may very well be the originator of the design, Ralph. I wouldn't know though since I've only gotten back into Lego last year. My memory has been jogged now, and I think the first time I saw it was on a yellow DHL delivery van MOC. Can't recall who made it or even if it was a post here. Kudos if you did invent this door technique, cuz it's a great design. I'll try and post pics of my setup tonight when I get home.

Thanks for the comments so far folks! Yes, that is exactly how it works (just looked at the review for that set). I didn't realize an official set used that technique. Funny thing is, I have that set, but I haven't opened it yet! I think I first saw the technique on a MOC of a van with an opening side door. I think the difference with mine is that the interior connection rod is hidden behind the bricks; the only drawback is that the door can't open fully like on that airplane or on the MOC I saw it on, but on the plus side, when opened, you can't see the connection rod.

V-LF-15B Updated May 31, 2012! Jump to the latest version! Support on Cuusoo LEGO Ideas! Original post below: Yes, it's another ambulance to add to the numerous ambulance MOCs on this forum. I chose to do this because ambulances are one of those vehicles that every city ought to have, but the official Lego versions don't look like the typical American ambulance. I've also seen some great ambulance MOCs here, but they weren't quite what I had in mind in terms of scale and proportions so hopefully mine will bring something new to the table. The first thing I started on was the 6-wide cab. I specifically wanted to be able to fit 2 minifigs in there. That wasn't too hard, but I did have to remove the seats in order for the roof of the cab to fit properly, otherwise I would have had to raise the roof by one plate in height. At first I used a 6x5x1 wall panel as the back of the cab to allow space for the seat backs. Once the seats were gone, I decided to use regular bricks. This allowed there to be an opening to the patient section in the back like on a real ambulance. The outside of a real ambulance has a lot of storage areas that can open up. For my model, I decided to focus more on the inside detail, which meant that outside storage had to be sacrificed since there isn't enough space. I do have a container on the driver side, but that's it. I added some 1x1 light bley tiles to simulate the door handles of some of the storage compartments. The roofs of the cab and patient section can be removed for easy access. This picture also shows the brick-built doors in their open position. This was the first time building my own brick-built doors and quickly found that simply using hinges wouldn't work due to the thickness of the bricks. At one point, I experimented with a snot door that had cheese wedges on the side to allow it to open and close. It didn't look good, so I scrapped the use of hinged plates/bricks altogether. A shot of part of the interior. There is a seat for an EMT to help with the patient and lots of storage for medical supplies. The other side (not shown) has an area where another minifig can sit, though the stretcher would get in the way of the fig's feet. There's also an oxygen tank and fire extinguisher that you can't see in this photo. The ice skater has had a bad fall! Her fans are quite worried. Here you see a bit of how the doors are made. There is a bar on the door attached to two robot arms. The other end of the arms are attached to a bar on the interior of the patient section. This allows the brick-built doors to be pulled straight out and then swiveled to the side. It's hard to see, but I also used 1x1 corner panels to allow a bit more clearance for the robot arms. I feel like I've seen this door technique before, but I'm not sure where I've seen it. The side door opens just like the rear doors. I'll probably use a similar design if I decide to make a bus. Comparison with official Lego vehicles. The bus from City Corner is looking a bit small now. Well, I guess that's it for this MOC! Thanks for looking! My next MOC might be an 8-wide bus, or maybe a regular car of some sort. This MOC can also be viewed at: Flickr MOC Pages LDD file: Spacysmoke's American Ambulance (ver.B)

Great review sidersdd! Found the UFO Abduction set at my local TRU today. It was actually still in the shipping carton and no other sets were on the shelves but i took one and it rang up just fine. Haven't gotten around to actually building it, but I do like the minifigs. The farmer's torso and leg printing are really great; nice detail but still cartoon-y in that Lego style. The ADU soldier is a gruff-looking old guy with a nice mustache.

Awesome truck! That snot door is a really great idea and it looks good! I like both versions a lot!

This container is more than meets the eye! Change... Change... Finish! Portable search and repair unit. Storage space is optimal & primed for quick deployment. A few more pics at flickr. Great raffle and lots of cool entries so far!

This thing is beautiful! Excellent design, sleek yet packed with details! And it looks great in your city!

Yeah, looking at the actual toy, it's a burgandy-ish purple-ish color, though the toy's boxart looks very purple. I think dark red might work well.

Well, an astute Flickr user reminded me that my Food Truck technically isn't my first MOC! I had forgotten, but back in 2002 or so, I did 3 MOCs in LDraw or some other unofficial CAD program. They were based on the 1980s M.A.S.K. toys by Kenner, a favorite toy when I was a kid. I remember doing a post about them on Lugnet back then. At that time, I didn't get into Lego to the point that I was buying sets; I remember just building these sets virtually and then moving on to other things. The Brickshelf gallery: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=Mista-Carrot Gator - in regular off-road Jeep mode Gator - in boat mode Manta - in regular Nissan 300ZX mode (roof looks pretty unstable!) Manta - in flight mode (the guns on the hood have to be attached; everything else is built-in) Rhino - in regular big rig mode Rhino - in attack mode I think my next project will be to update these models with current parts and actually build them!

I think I did see that in my search for a better door, but yeah I wanted something that looks more like the train door you mention.

Dude! Awesome space truck! I love all the greebles! It really looks like a cool, suped-up mean machine! And great comics too! Really well done!